zoanthropy

[zoh-an-thruh-pee]

noun

Psychiatry.

1. a mental disorder in which one believes oneself to be an animal.

Word History and Origins

Origin of zoanthropy¹

1855–60; zo- + -anthropy < New Latin -anthrōpia < Greek; anthropo-, -y ³

Example Sentences

“Clinical zoanthropy, or the conviction of having turned into an animal, is a rare delusion”, they write.

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The early days of Christianity are naturally full of incidents of this kind, but what is remarkable, zoanthropy was then already treated as a mere delusion.

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Symptoms of zoanthropy typically range from one hour to several decades.

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For this is one of the specially fearful magic phenomena of zoanthropy that it is apt to produce in healthy persons the same delusion as in the sufferer.

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